Heat Pump Rebates in Massachusetts, The 2026 Plain-English Guide

Reviewed 2026-07-07 against the current Mass Save program-year rules.

If you're considering a heat pump in Massachusetts, there's real money on the table, but the rules are scattered across the state Mass Save program, the federal Inflation Reduction Act (what's left of it), your individual utility, and (for about 40 towns) a separate municipal program. Here's the short version.

The Mass Save program (most homeowners qualify)

Mass Save is the joint efficiency program funded by Massachusetts's investor-owned utilities, Eversource, National Grid, and Unitil for electric, plus the gas utilities. If you're served by one of these, the program is open to you.

For heat pumps, the headline incentive is the whole-home heat pump rebate. For 2026 it's structured as $2,650 per ton of cooling capacity, capped at $8,500, for a qualifying install, provided:

• You start with a free Mass Save Home Energy Assessment, which is required to unlock the larger rebates and often finds insulation and air-sealing work that's separately subsidized at 75%+.
• The equipment is on the Heat Pump Qualified Product List and is rated ENERGY STAR Cold Climate, and it is installed by a Mass Save Heat Pump Installer Network contractor. Most cold-climate systems from major manufacturers meet the bar; older-tier equipment usually does not.
• The home is sufficiently weatherized before install, and you sign the Whole-Home Heat Pump Verification Form. The heat pump has to serve as the sole heating and cooling source in the home. If you keep a fossil boiler or furnace in place as backup (a common retrofit compromise), it is only allowed under the whole-home rebate when an integrated control locks it out above a set outdoor temperature cap. Without that control, the install drops to the partial-home tier.
• The system is sized to handle a meaningful share of the home's heating load. Partial-home systems and ductless mini-splits qualify for the partial rebate instead, $1,125 per ton, also capped at $8,500, so a small two-ton ductless retrofit lands around $2,250 while a larger partial install can reach the cap. Partial installs can stack a $500 weatherization bonus and a $500 sizing bonus if the equipment covers a large enough share of the load. These tiers were lower in earlier program years; if you're looking at a quote that cites old numbers, ask the installer to re-run it against the current 2026 rebate sheet.
• A newer basic rebate of $250 per ton, capped at $2,500, covers replacements of existing heat pumps, new additions, and seasonal homes that don't hit the weatherization or sole-source bar. It's small, but it's better than the zero rebate people used to assume applied.

The 0% HEAT Loan is the other lever worth knowing. The lifetime cap is $25,000 across all your Mass Save financed upgrades (that cap took effect January 1, 2025 and applies to any new loan since). The term length is set by household income against the state median income (SMI): 7 years if you're at or below 135% SMI, 5 years if you're above that, 3 years if you're above 300% SMI. It covers heat pumps, insulation, heat pump water heaters, and other electrification upgrades, and it's often what makes the math cash-flow positive month one when combined with the rebate.

If your household is income-eligible, the numbers are much bigger

Mass Save runs an enhanced incentives track for households below roughly 80% of area median income (AMI), with a moderate-income band above that. Concrete 2026 figures Mass Save publishes:

• Enhanced air source heat pump rebate up to $16,000 on a whole-home install (that's on top of, not stacked with, the standard $8,500).
• Enhanced ground source (geothermal) heat pump rebate up to $25,000.
• For income-verified households at the bottom of the range, air source heat pumps are available at no cost through Mass Save's Turnkey Services, meaning the program pays the installer directly and you pay nothing out of pocket.
• All recommended weatherization from the Home Energy Assessment is done at no cost for verified households, and a needed electrical panel upgrade can be covered up to 100% before the heat pump goes in.

Actual AMI thresholds vary by county and household size, so the intake is handled by Mass Save's income qualification tool rather than a hard number on the rebate sheet. If you're anywhere near the threshold, verify before you sign a standard-tier quote; the delta between the standard $8,500 and the enhanced $16,000 is bigger than most homeowners realize.

What the federal IRA adds on top

The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act created two federal incentives for heat pumps. As of mid-2026 the picture is:

• 25C tax credit: gone. It expired for equipment placed in service after December 31, 2025, under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed July 4, 2025. A heat pump installed in 2026 does not qualify, the up-to-$2,000 credit no longer applies. Any contractor quote or rebate calculator still showing this credit is out of date.
• Home Electrification and Appliance Rebates (HEAR), formerly HEEHRA: federal income-limited rebates for heat pumps and other electrification upgrades. Massachusetts's Department of Energy Resources is braiding HEAR funding into the existing Mass Save income-eligible / enhanced incentive track rather than running a separate portal. That means for most eligible households the "HEAR benefit" shows up as bigger Mass Save enhanced rebates rather than a distinct federal check, and you apply through the same Mass Save intake. Confirm the current status on the mass.gov DOER federal funding page before assuming HEAR is available on top of an enhanced Mass Save quote; the two programs share dollars, they do not simply stack.

Federal HEAR was originally designed to apply regardless of utility, including in MLP towns where Mass Save doesn't reach. Because Massachusetts is running the federal money through Mass Save's income-eligible track, the MLP-town path is less clear than it looked on paper. Confirm with your MLP and the DOER federal funding page before counting on HEAR in an MLP town.

The Municipal Light Plant catch

About 40 Massachusetts towns get their electricity from a Municipal Light Plant (MLP) rather than Eversource, National Grid, or Unitil. Examples include Belmont, Concord, Wellesley, Reading, Holyoke, Westfield, Taunton, Hingham, Norwood, and Mansfield (among many others).

If you're in one of these towns, you are not eligible for Mass Save rebates, the program is funded by the investor-owned utilities through your bill, and MLP customers don't pay into it. Your MLP usually runs its own efficiency program with smaller rebates: typically a few hundred to a couple thousand dollars per ton of heat pump cooling installed, depending on the town. The application goes directly through the utility rather than through Mass Save.

Federal HEAR (formerly HEEHRA) was designed to apply regardless of utility, but as noted above, Massachusetts is running that money through the Mass Save enhanced track that MLP customers can't access, so the MLP-town HEAR path is unresolved. The 25C tax credit doesn't apply either; it expired December 31, 2025 for all homeowners regardless of utility. For most MLP-town homeowners in 2026, the practical stack is just the MLP's own heat-pump program.

What to ask your contractor

Before signing a quote, ask the installer to confirm:

1. Which rebates this specific equipment qualifies for at the current tier, equipment lists update yearly.
2. Whether they handle the Mass Save paperwork or if you'll need to file yourself (most established MA installers do this for you).
3. The post-rebate net cost, not just the sticker price. A $30,000 quote that nets to $18,000 after rebates is different from one with no rebate path.
4. Whether an electrical panel upgrade is included, older homes often need 200A service to handle a heat pump circuit.

Worth knowing before you start

Heat pump rebates have shifted year-over-year as the state has tightened eligibility and changed equipment tiers. If a contractor is quoting numbers that sound too good (or wildly different from another quote), check the current Mass Save program page directly, the rebate amounts published there are authoritative, and your installer should be quoting against the same sheet.

FAQ

Can I still claim the federal 25C credit on a 2026 heat pump install? No. The 25C Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit expired for equipment placed in service after December 31, 2025 under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. A 2026 heat pump install does not qualify.

Do I have to remove my gas or oil furnace to get the Mass Save whole-home rebate? Not necessarily. You can keep it as backup if an integrated control locks it out above a set outdoor temperature cap; without that control, the project qualifies for the partial-home rebate instead ($1,125 per ton) not the whole-home rebate ($2,650 per ton).

Can I get any Mass Save rebate if I live in a Municipal Light Plant town? No. Mass Save is funded by the investor-owned utilities and MLP customers don't pay into it. You'll use your MLP's own heat pump program, which usually pays a few hundred to a couple thousand per ton.

Does the HEAT Loan really run 0% for the full $25,000? Yes for qualifying upgrades installed by a participating contractor. The $25,000 cap is a lifetime cap across all your Mass Save financed projects, and the repayment term is 7 years at or below 135% state median income, 5 years above that, 3 years above 300% SMI.

Is the enhanced $16,000 rebate the same as HEAR? Effectively yes, for most MA households. DOER is running the federal HEAR dollars through the existing Mass Save enhanced incentive track rather than a separate portal, so the enhanced rebate you see on a Mass Save quote is where the HEAR benefit shows up.

Get a heat pump quote priced with the current rebate stack

The post-rebate net cost on a heat pump in Massachusetts depends on ton-by-ton Mass Save math, whether your home has gone through a Home Energy Assessment, and (in MLP towns) which municipal program applies. Tell us about your project and we will route you to vetted MA installers who price both the equipment and the rebate paperwork honestly: get a free estimate. You can also browse local pros on our HVAC hub.